India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, the Philippines and Malaysia are just some of the counties that could be targeted for recruitment.
The Health Secretary has confirmed the creation of an “International Recruitment Taskforce”.
The Government is to “make it easier” for overseas nurses and dentists to come and work in the UK.
The move follows a pledge by new Health Secretary Steve Barclay to bolster the number of nurses working across the NHS by supercharging international recruitment, and the news that the number of unfilled nursing vacancies across the NHS in England has risen to a massive 47,000.
India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, the Philippines and Malaysia are just some of the counties that could be targeted for increased recruitment.
Speaking yesterday in the House of Commons, Mr Barclay explained, “We have launched an International Recruitment Taskforce to boost the care workforce and address issues in capacity.”
Explore alternative registration routes.
According to a Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) memo seen by the Guardian, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) will be told to simplify its procedures.
The memo explains the nursing regulator could “explore alternative registration routes to its test of competence”.
DHSC already revealed they will move to remove “prescriptive detail on the process that the NMC must follow in relation to qualification comparability and the assessment of international applicants, providing the NMC with greater flexibility to change these processes in future.”
Workforce experts have constantly warned that recruiting from overseas is not only ethically questionable but also fails to develop a permanent UK workforce.
Minor amendments.
The NMC has said they would welcome the “minor amendments” to legislation which would streamline the process for overseas nurses. Assistant director for registration and revalidation Linda Everet, added: “We welcome these minor amendments to our legislation.
“They update the requirements for some of the documents we need from international applicants to our register, and clarify how we assess applications.
“The rest of our process and requirements remain the same.
“While this amended legislation gives us greater flexibility for the future, we currently have no plans to move away from the test of competence as our primary route to the register for internationally trained professionals, who make a vital contribution to UK health and care services.”
Source :- https://nursingnotes.co.uk/news/government-to-make-it-easier-for-overseas-nurses-to-work-in-the-uk/
